At its Nov. 8 meeting, the Academic Faculty Senate reviewed committee work from recent months. 

President G.P. “Bud” Peterson called the meeting to order and made comments about recent developments at Tech Square and new leadership at the Board of Regents. Minutes from the Oct. 18 meeting were approved. 

Professor Emeritus Robert Nerem and Gail Spatt, program manager in the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research, presented an update on the Institute Awards Committee. The committee, formed in 2013, has fostered a significant increase in honors and awards received by Georgia Tech individuals. The focus is national or international awards that go beyond a single discipline. 

Nerem presented an overview of nominations for 2015 by unit, gender, underrepresented minority status, and rank for academic faculty. He also highlighted recent successes, and said the units with the greatest level of success are those with a well-developed organizational structure for carrying out nominations. The committee welcomes suggestions. 

Registrar Reta Pikowsky presented the degree candidates for Fall 2016: bachelor’s – 1,319; master’s – 1,130; and Ph.D. – 270. The list of degree candidates was approved. 

The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s Reginald DesRoches presented the annual report of the faculty athletic representative. The report included a look at student-athletes from Fall 2015 and Spring 2016, including graduates and those on the ACC honor roll. One hundred percent of the athletic teams are in good academic standing.  

Joe Hughes, professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Steven Girardot, associate vice provost for Undergraduate Education, presented an update on the Classroom Scheduling Task Force. The task force, co-chaired by Hughes and Girardot, included faculty from all six colleges, students, and administrators whose work involves class scheduling. 

The Task Force found that the majority of classes currently occur between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., causing inefficiencies in the use of campus space. Key recommendations include shifting classroom scheduling from Capital Planning and Space Management to the Registrar’s Office. 

A new daily scheduling grid also was introduced, which includes:  

• Fifteen-minute pass times between classes.
• Two-day-a-week classes meeting for 75 minutes per class (currently 80 minutes). 
• Friday flexible block to support a wide range of course types and delivery options. 

The anticipated implementation is Fall 2017. Training on the new grid and related procedures is in the implementation process, and is being coordinated by the Registrar’s Office. 

George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Professor Rhett Mayor presented an update from the Institute Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. 

Action items approved included new course additions and degree modifications, as well as a new course code, NEUR, to accompany the forthcoming bachelor of science in neuroscience. 

Scheller College of Business Professor David Sluss presented an update from the Institute Graduate Curriculum Committee. 

Action items approved included: 

• School of Building Construction: new degree, Master of Real Estate Development, one new course;
• College of Computing, College of Engineering, and College of Sciences: new degree, Ph.D. with a major in Machine Learning. 

For full presentations, meeting minutes, and upcoming meeting schedules, visit facultygovernance.gatech.edu.